Strawberries, an angel, a dragonfly and a bee that might be a wasp

After not having any homegrown strawberries so far this year, and pretty much giving up on them, the recent heavy rainfall along with lots of sunshine has had berries ripening like crazy. I've been starting every day with fresh fruit for breakfast, which is a lovely treat.

This last week's been oddly enjoyable. The house is looking much better after it's ever-so-late-spring-clean, and hopefully I can keep it this way. Out in the garden everything's windswept and there're lots of plants leaning drunkenly over, me neglecting to stake them.

I made a couple of little changes to the angel fabric collage, not having been entirely satisfied with her face.

I outlined the eyes with thread and added a faint indication of a nose! This textile piece ended up being about 21 x 23cm, and it occurred to me that I might make a smaller version and use it to decorate a Christmas card. (Sorry to mention the 'Ch' word in June, but you have to think ahead when it comes to handmade goodies.) That thought led me to think about fabric gift tags, made like mini collages.

This was a quick attempt, to get a feel for what size of gift tag and how I'd make it. I also began making a smaller version of - not the angel - but the green and pink dragonfly design from a few days ago.

I've made the background and added some quilting lines, and have the dragonfly pieces cut out and ready to applique on. That'll keep me occupied tomorrow while listening to 'The Archers' omnibus, making it another Slow Stitch Sunday.

I've also started yet another project, which is silly, I know. Really, I should finish one thing before embarking on something else, but I like flitting between tasks. It keeps them interesting. After making that fabric leopard's head brooch a while back, I fancied making a bee brooch. Or it might turn out to look more wasp-like. Not sure yet. I'll let you know how it turns out.

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Fabric bowls & electrical cables ...

To add to my seemingly never ending list of works-in-progress, I've started making a fabric bowl. Or should I call it a fabric basket? I'm not sure. Anyway, I've made the odd bowl or two before, like this blue & white one that I keep cotton perle in. I decided to use upholstery material, which has both advantages & disadvantages. On the good side, it has a certain stiffness, which helps the bowl stay in shape. On the irritating side, the kind of material I'm using frays like mad, and I'm forever picking up threads off the carpet. The bowl's a simple construction, and I've used a circle of cardboard covered with brown felt for the base. It'll look much better when I've embroidered and stitched into it. I've made a start on that, and appliqued on a rectangle of plum coloured velvet for extra interest. When not stitching, I've been catching up on my reading. I finished C J Sansom's 'Dark Fire'. Real...

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Sari scraps, PVA, a couple of books and a necklace

I'm typing this as snow's falling, and has been steadily all day. It's not settling to any great extent, though I bet by tomorrow morning the paths will be slippery with ice. Which always makes me paranoid about falling over and at the very least looking undignified, but at worst breaking a bone or twisting an ankle. Oh well, it's ideal weather to stay inside and craft, isn't it? I finally got around to listing packs of sari scraps on Etsy this morning. I only made up six bundles as I've no clue whether they'll sell or if I've set a reasonable enough price point. Time will tell. This is a link to the listing, if you're interested. This vaguely pink fabric isn't from one of my Etsy packs. It's from a bit of experimenting I was doing yesterday. I'd seen a post on Instagram showing how a DIY version of batik could be done without using hot wax. The Instagrammer used PVA instead, and I wanted to try this out....

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